The script reading room for City of Criminals.
Perhaps because so many famous actors were participating, reporters were crowding around the entrance leading into the script reading room.
More than ten reporters, each using their own tools and methods, were taking photos without missing a single person entering the script reading room.
“Wow… look at the reporters already swarming the place. I don’t know what they think there is to gain by doing that.”
Jung Dusik’s voice could be heard.
He was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking at the reporters gathered around the script reading room.
Han Seongtae was sitting behind him, looking through the script.
“Seongtae, do you think you can get through there?”
At Jung Dusik’s question, Han Seongtae lifted his head and saw reporters rushing over in a crowd whenever an actor appeared.
‘If I go in there, I feel like I’ll get crushed to death.’
Han Seongtae immediately shook his head.
He was supposed to push through more than ten reporters?
That was something he absolutely could not do, and did not want to do.
“No. I think that would definitely be impossible.”
Seeing Han Seongtae emphasize the word “definitely,” Jung Dusik nodded as if he fully understood.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s right either.”
Jung Dusik said he had never intended to put him in front of them in the first place, and turned the steering wheel.
Han Seongtae, who had been looking at the reporters, turned his head and spoke to Jung Dusik.
“Is there a separate place we can go in through?”
“Yeah. For situations like this, there’s another entrance only our managers and actors know about.”
They were going there now.
Jung Dusik told him he did not have to worry about anything.
At those words, Han Seongtae nodded and turned his gaze back to the script.
He was not worried.
It was not as if he had done anything wrong. He was simply trying to act.
Honestly, he probably could push through them and go in.
‘But still, I’m not comfortable with reporters yet.’
Was it because memories of the past remained?
Han Seongtae’s view of reporters was not exactly favorable.
Because there had been a time when one article had eventually sent him crashing down.
It was something that had not happened now, and something that would never happen.
But he still could not help feeling uncomfortable around reporters.
“We can go this way.”
At the entrance Jung Dusik showed him, it was indeed hard to find reporters.
It was in such a secluded place, and since it was an entrance not easily visible from outside,
even reporters had a hard time finding it.
‘There are security guards blocking it too.’
Unlike the freely accessible main entrance, the back door could not be entered unless one was an authorized person.
Han Seongtae was able to enter the script reading room with a slightly more comfortable heart.
“Seongtae, it’s a good thing you moved. It’s already like this now. If you were still at your old place, you wouldn’t even have been able to rest properly.”
“You’re right.”
Hearing Jung Dusik’s voice as they headed toward the script reading room, Han Seongtae immediately nodded.
Even in his own opinion, moving had been a very good decision.
Just imagining reporters crowding around while he had not moved yet already gave him chills.
“Hey, I see the actors over there. Go say hello. I’ll be over there, so call me right away if you need anything.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Do well.”
After parting from Jung Dusik, Han Seongtae headed straight toward where the actors were gathered.
“Hello.”
Han Seongtae smiled politely and spoke to them.
At his words, people turned their bodies.
When they discovered Han Seongtae, gladness appeared on their faces.
“Seongtae-ssi, you’re here.”
Ma Seokdong spoke to him with a smile.
“Actor Han Seongtae, this is our first time meeting, right? Nice to meet you. I really enjoyed War of Villains.”
“I also really enjoyed Baengnyeoncho. My heart kept fluttering the whole time I watched it.”
“And what about Haru? I was seriously holding my breath the whole time I watched it.”
The way they spoke to Han Seongtae looked like children excited after seeing a toy.
Starting with Jo Harim and all the way to Jin Gyujeong.
They were all famous actors, but judging only by their current behavior, they seemed like celebrities looking at a celebrity.
“Let’s do well.”
“Actor Han Seongtae, I’m looking forward to your acting!”
“Let’s all do our best!”
After exchanging greetings with them, Han Seongtae walked off to find his seat.
‘They seem like good people.’
They were people he was seeing for the first time.
But all of them seemed positive.
Han Seongtae’s seat was right beside Ma Seokdong.
He sat down and opened the script.
When the director took his seat, the script reading began.
Reporter Kim Minsu.
He was a reporter affiliated with <two>, a person who specialized in covering actors.
He was famous for harsh criticism, and because of that, actors did not like him.
Once he bit, he never let go, so he had even earned the nickname “son of a bitch.”
That man had changed after meeting one actor.
Han Seongtae.
That person’s acting had shaken Kim Minsu, and before he knew it, he had started writing good articles.
No, it was not just him.
Hadn’t even Lee Jaeseon, who was called a poisonous snake, praised Han Seongtae’s acting to the skies?
In any case, after meeting Han Seongtae, he had dug into only one person.
He investigated every part of Han Seongtae’s daily life, what works he was filming, and what his future schedule looked like.
Starting from people’s reactions, all of his time had been on Han Seongtae.
It had been the same when he went overseas, and it was the same this time too.
When he heard that Han Seongtae was participating in City of Criminals, hadn’t he pushed aside the reporter who had originally been assigned and come himself?
‘What kind of acting will he show this time?’
Inside the script reading room, as he watched Han Seongtae open his script, Kim Minsu held his breath.
Whenever he watched Han Seongtae, he found himself looking forward to what kind of acting he would show.
Tap, tap.
Under Kim Minsu’s gaze, Han Seongtae tapped the microphone.
Han Seongtae looked very different from when Kim Minsu had first seen him.
Back then, he had been withdrawn and lacked confidence.
Now, his back was straight, and he looked full of confidence in his acting.
Kim Minsu thought that appearance suited him well.
“We will begin the script reading for City of Criminals.”
Director Yoon Jeonghan’s voice was heard, and one by one, the actors opened their mouths.
“Ah.”
The moment Han Seongtae’s mouth opened,
‘This is insane.’
Kim Minsu got an intense premonition.
A strong conviction that perhaps this film might reach ten million admissions.
Han Seongtae looked at the actor acting in front of him.
Jo Harim, who had taken on the role of Chief Park, was acting with a fierce smile.
Even though it was a line with a long breath, Jo Harim’s pronunciation was so good that it felt like it struck directly into his ears.
Beside him was Jin Gyujeong, who had taken on the villain role.
Junchao, the villain boss.
Jin Gyujeong’s appearance as he acted that role suited it extremely well.
‘Come to think of it, when I saw him in that movie back then, he had a shaved head. Now his hair is long?’
Han Seongtae tilted his head while looking at Jin Gyujeong, then soon let out a small laugh and focused on his own acting.
What strange thoughts was he having in the middle of a script reading?
He was busy enough just focusing on his own acting right now.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ says it is time to show the results of your practice, and waits for your lines.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ looks at you, saying to start lightly at first.]
He could feel the gods’ gazes, and he could feel the gazes of the reporters far away.
When even the sprites they were pouring out were no longer visible,
Beep.
Han Seongtae’s microphone turned on.
“Ah, hyungnim, I’m telling you, it’s really not like that.”
Han Seongtae’s acting began.
He spoke playfully to Ma Seokdong beside him.
The character Han Seongtae played, “Yoo Yeongjun,” was a fairly light person.
His actions, and the way he spoke too.
Everything about him was light, and he did not look like someone who thought deeply for long.
Yes, that was only how he appeared on the outside.
‘Yoo Yeongjun is an extremely cunning guy.’
In the script, Han Seongtae could see the settings contained within “Yoo Yeongjun.”
A vile human who, for his own people, did not hesitate to hit someone in the back of the head.
An opportunist who pursued his own benefit and thoroughly acted only in ways that would not bring harm to himself.
While trying not to catch the eye of the senior detective who was a symbol of terror to criminals, he was a dirty human who, from behind, watched for a chance to stab that man in the back.
The character “Yoo Yeongjun” that Han Seongtae played was exactly that kind of villain.
‘He’s different from the villains I’ve acted until now.’
Yoo Yeongjun was not heavy.
Because he was light, he felt very different from the heavy villains Han Seongtae had acted until now.
He had to avoid thinking about the acting he had done before.
He had to thoroughly create and act as a new character.
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says light acting comes from the atmosphere.]
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ advises that you need to relax your body.]
Amid the gods’ advice,
Han Seongtae calmly continued his acting.
“I told you. There’s no one like that here. This hyungnim is trying to push his way in like a bull again.”
“Hey, stop running your mouth and go catch those guys.”
“Ha, seriously. Our hyungnim’s temper can’t be stopped.”
He exchanged lines with Ma Seokdong.
The corners of Yoo Yeongjun’s eyes, as he looked at him, were smiling.
He let out a light sigh and moved without hesitation.
“Ah, detective! Do you know how much I gave you?”
“You won’t shut up? If you go there and say that kind of nonsense again, I’ll rip your mouth apart myself. You’d better behave.”
If he was light in front of his senior, he was heavy in front of those connected to him.
He was never looked down on, and he threatened them while glaring at them fiercely.
So that not even the slightest harm would come back to him.
“I wonder if our hyungnim knows I’m doing this. That hyungnim is really frustrating too. If he just acted a little more comfortably, he could live this well.”
Han Seongtae’s lines filled the script reading room.
Shock settled into the gazes of the people looking at him.
Han Seongtae spoke long lines comfortably.
His diction, no matter how long or fast the lines were, struck directly into everyone’s ears.
“Cut. We’ll take a short break.”
At the director’s words, Han Seongtae stopped acting and exhaled.
He had immersed himself, and because he had immersed himself, the sense of exhaustion that came when he ended the acting made a sigh come out naturally.
“Hoo…”
Han Seongtae let out a deep sigh and grabbed a water bottle.
As he moistened his mouth, which had dried from spitting out lines,
“Seongtae-ssi, your acting is good no matter when I see it.”
“Ah, thank you.”
At Ma Seokdong’s words, he smiled and slightly lowered his head.
“You’re no joke either, sunbaenim. When you were acting earlier, my whole body flinched and trembled without me realizing it.”
“Would I be as good as you, Seongtae-ssi? I was even more surprised because this is the first time I’ve seen someone control the pace this well. Every time I see you, your acting gets better.”
“Hahaha.”
At Ma Seokdong’s words, Han Seongtae could only laugh.
The gods of acting were looking at him warmly.
“This film feels good.”
At his words, Han Seongtae nodded.
City of Criminals would succeed.
Separate from knowing the future, it was a certainty he felt from seeing the script and the actors’ performances.
The script reading began again.
And like that, time in the script reading room passed heavily but quickly.
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